The present invention generally relates to air conditioning apparatus and, in representatively illustrated embodiments thereof, more particularly relates to condensate drain pan structures used in conjunction with air conditioning cooling coils.
A coil used in air conditioning apparatus such as furnaces, air handling units, and heat pumps extracts moisture from the air which is being flowed externally across the coil (by a blower portion of the apparatus) and cooled by the coil for delivery to a conditioned space served by the apparatus. This moisture extraction creates condensation (water) on the exterior of the coil which drips from the coil into an associated drain pan structure within the air conditioning apparatus. Coil condensation dripping into the pan flows away therefrom by gravity via a condensate drain line suitably connected to the pan. While this general approach to coil condensate removal has long been utilized and is generally suitable for its intended purpose, it typically presents several well known problems, limitations and disadvantages.
For example, an air conditioning apparatus (such as a furnace, air handling unit or heat pump) incorporating a cooling coil therein may customarily be fabricated in either (1) a vertical configuration in which air is to be operationally flowed upwardly or downwardly through the cooling coil, or (2) a horizontal configuration in which air is to be operationally flowed horizontally in one of two opposite directions through the coil. To permit a given vertical air flow coil/drain pan subassembly to be utilized in a horizontal air flow application (in which the associated drain pan is vertically oriented) it is typically necessary to attach to the re-oriented drain pan a horizontal drip shield structure to catch the condensate falling from the coil. Attachment of the auxiliary drip shield structure to the drain pan tends to be a fairly tedious procedure requiring the use of separate fasteners, and the application of a suitable sealing material at the joint between the pan and the shield. Such fabricational complexity undesirably adds to the overall cost of the air conditioning apparatus.
Additionally, condensate drain pans of conventional constructions often present problems associated with the coil condensate which they receive. Such problems arise from the often unavoidable presence of standing water within the pans for long periods of time, and include sweating of the pans, fungus growth, and reduction in the quality of air delivered to the conditioned space.
As can readily be seen from the foregoing, a need exists for a coil drain pan structure which eliminates or at least substantially eliminates the above-mentioned problems, limitations and disadvantages of conventionally constructed coil drain pans. It is to this need that the present invention is directed.